After months of holding the fans hostage, owners and players finally decided to put their differences aside and give NBA basketball to the people who love the sport.

Just in time for Christmas. That’s the kind of gift you can’t wrap.

Failed agreement after stalled negotiating session was the story for the majority of this process. Thank god the NBA players and owners realized that if they didn’t get this figured out fast, they would be doing irreparable harm to the sport that has become a cultural phenomenon.

The war or words via the media is over. It’s time to get back to worrying about zone defenses instead of litigation.

NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver told The Chicago Tribune about the struggles of coming to this agreement:

This was not an easy agreement for anyone. The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn't working fairly across all teams. I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today.

No matter how hard it was to get figured out, it was 10 times harder for the fans of the sport who have suffered through the uncertainty of a possibly NBA-less year.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Fans were legitimately scared for the possibility of a full season lost after the last negotiations broke down, but the NBA would be smarter than the NHL was in 2004. A whole season lost would kill all the momentum the NBA had created over the years with the fans.

With Thanksgiving behind us, all eyes are focused on Christmas now. The return of the NBA on Christmas Day will be the best gift a NBA fan could have ever asked for.

Besides that Detroit Pistons snuggie you’ve been yearning for.

Check back for more on the National Basketball Association as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s NBA Page to get your fill of all things basketball.

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